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America: "Up in Arms"

A few takeaways from our special program, “America: Up in Arms” on 1/10/13. Comments in italics are mine:

--The brain is very susceptible to suggestion. According to an article in Scientific American(1/2011), merely watching a movie showing violent acts predisposes us to act violently. Even just listening to violent rhetoric makes one more inclined to be violent. Ironically, the same mirror neurons that make us empathic make us also very vulnerable to all sorts of influences. Without cognitive (self) control, we tend to act on such impulses. In people like the shooters in AZ and CN, those control mechanisms have become deranged. So why are we focusing solely on guns, and ignoring the influence wielded by violent films, games, and music on deranged minds?

--Just about every high-profile politician (Feinstein, Reid, Biden, and Obama) that has been vocal about gun control in the current debate is also on-record as saying they are an unwavering supporter of 2ndAmendment rights. And the number of Hollywood celebrities that are two-faced on the issue, as exposed by an amateur filmmaker last week, should cause them to be embarrassed…if Hollywood celebrities still possess that capacity!

--Though the Bible is, obviously, silent on guns (which were not yet invented, as the canon of Scripture had closed), the Old and New Testaments speak with one voice about the right of the individual to use weapons and lethal force in protection of his family. Dr. Dan Peters also showed us that only “Philistine-type” governments in Scripture confiscated weapons, and then only to enslave the people. The second amendment to the U.S. Constitution that recognizes the right of a citizen to "keep and bear arms" is in harmony with the teachings of the Bible.

Those who amended the Constitution in 1791 to add the Bill of Rights made it clear in their preamble that those first 10 amendments weren’t designed to limit freedom, but “in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of [the Constitution’s] powers”…to “best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.” The Constitution is an intentionally-spare document—difficult to amend—because our Founders and Framers perceived the direct correlation between more restrictive laws, and restricted freedom. But Adams, Madison, and others also recognized the essentials of religion and morality as “indispensable supports” to limited government.